Florida AG Pam Bondi: Gay Marriage Would ‘Impose Significant Public Harm’ on the State

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi (R) is asking a federal judge to throw out a lawsuit against the state of Florida on behalf of eight same-sex couples seeking recognition of their out-of-state marriages – with Bondi writing in court documents that recognizing the marriages would “impose significant public harm.”

Bondi's office also argues that the state has a legitimate interest in defining marriage as between a man and woman. Florida first banned same-sex marriages nearly two decades ago and voters reinforced that ban when they passed a constitutional amendment in 2008.

"Florida's marriage laws, then, have a close, direct, and rational relationship to society's legitimate interest in increasing the likelihood that children will be born to and raised by the mothers and fathers who produced them in stable and enduring family units," Bondi's office said in court documents.

The state's legal position also notes that there would be significant financial and logistical problems for the state's pension and health insurance programs if same-sex marriages were recognized.

Comments

Shorter: It would be confusing to have a married couple that isn't "man and wife" and we'd have to offer gay couples the same benefits as straight couples, which is just icky.

Posted by: JT | May 31, 2014 8:50:43 AM

How pathetic for the state of Florida and Pam Bondi to even try to rationalize discrimination in this day and age.

Posted by: Jay | May 31, 2014 8:51:04 AM

she looks like the bride of chuckie

Posted by: Patrick | May 31, 2014 8:51:38 AM

we (the gays) should not pay our taxes, she look like whore

Posted by: capetom | May 31, 2014 8:52:52 AM

Amazing. Everything circles back around to the dollar.

Posted by: Ted | May 31, 2014 9:06:53 AM

In my deepest satirical southern accent, all I can say is "bless her heart".

Posted by: Jere | May 31, 2014 9:12:45 AM

Another uneducated despicable blonde bigoted #%<€^##%%%!!!

Posted by: Alan | May 31, 2014 9:14:59 AM

Did Pam work her way through college as a pole dancer at some joint on I-95 or was she a server at Hooters?

Posted by: oz | May 31, 2014 9:16:14 AM

You sillies used her campaign picture! She is actually a tired old harpy with dark roots and tons of wrinkles!

Posted by: jmartindale | May 31, 2014 9:19:41 AM

Yes one can certainly see how Gay Marriage would hurt the institution of marriage in Florida:

Central Florida divorce rates one of the highest in the nation
A Brown University study found that divorce may be connected to the state you live in. Of the four top 10 cities with the highest divorce rates three are in Florida.

Numbers six and eight are Deltano and Palm Bay, right here in Central Florida.

According to:
Read more: http://www.myfoxorlando.com/story/23956258

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Posted by: Jon | May 31, 2014 9:36:37 AM

Why fall back on sexist stereotypes to attack her??? Yes, she's an awful person. But using sexist & misogynist stereotypes like "dumb blondes" is wrong.

Attack her for bigotry, ethics, and hypocrisy:
She's just another bigoted Republican. Using hate to divide and conquer is how the party operates. The rationale that marriage is only for the procreation flies in the face history. Republicans need a minority to vilify and dehumanize to get out the vote: evil blacks and Latinos or icky gays. This isn't random. It works.

Posted by: Harris | May 31, 2014 9:43:49 AM

Bondi has been divorced twice and is not married to her current boyfriend. They had a wedding, but skipped the legal part at the last second for some reason.

Posted by: Steve | May 31, 2014 9:47:30 AM

Oh and she hasn't procreated in all that time.

Posted by: Steve | May 31, 2014 9:47:47 AM

Must resist pearl necklace joke.

Posted by: Sam | May 31, 2014 10:11:28 AM

Significant Public Harm = Loss of Government Funds

In short, it's about money, right, Pam?

Posted by: johnny | May 31, 2014 10:31:28 AM

If I'm reading into what she wrote correctly, it sounds like she's saying if there are no gay couples to adopt kids, there will be no orphans to begin with. Brilliant.

Posted by: J-Bone | May 31, 2014 11:00:10 AM

The increase in tourism coming from gay weddings would easily bump Florida up to the number one tourist destination in the world. It's simple.
Gay weddings mean increased tourist tax dollars.
Bondi has frequently sided with big business in her tenure as AG. The decision should be easy for her as it's a no-brainer.

Making claims of some sort of "harm" at this late stage in the battle is really silly given there is a decade of history and stats available from Massachusetts to refute such claims as specious. Of course, opponents of marriage equality have never had a sound legal basis for obvious discrimination. She's just grasping at straws here and in 2014 it just appears sad and desperate.

Posted by: Jay | May 31, 2014 11:44:53 AM

she's probably not too popular in her south tampa neighborhood.

poor pam she's too good a lawyer to believe these arguments will fly. The "do it for the kids" argument has failed 10 times. And "we can't afford it" is baiting the court to rule against you.

Posted by: verbocity eric | May 31, 2014 12:01:27 PM

She has been married 3 times!!! what a republican, tea party JOKE.

Posted by: steve | May 31, 2014 12:29:06 PM

The reasons these people use say that "harm" will be caused are mere opinion and supposition. I'd love to hear a judge say with incredulity, "that's it? Can you prove it? It appears that other states haven't had that problem".

Posted by: woodroad34 | May 31, 2014 12:57:59 PM

Yes!! Perfect! She's using the same tired, old, and useless arguments that have essentially resulted in a loss for every state that's attempted to use them! Thanks Pam!